1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods that are intended to identify the individual parts of a vehicle, thereby allowing those parts to be identified if stolen. More specifically, the present invention relates to electronic identification systems where individual electronic assemblies are identified with a unique code that can be identified electronically through a computer interface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Every year thousands of cars, trucks and other vehicles are stolen. Many of those vehicles are taken apart and the individual parts are resold. The individual parts rarely contain vehicle identification numbers. Consequently, it is nearly impossible to determine if a used part came from a stolen vehicle or from a legitimate supplier.
Thieves also commonly break into vehicles and steal parts from those vehicles. For example, every year thousands of radios are stolen from vehicles. To combat such thefts, vehicle manufactures have begun to distribute the electronic components of the radio throughout the vehicle. Consequently, if the main radio unit is stolen from a vehicle's dashboard, the electronics of the stolen radio would be incomplete and the radio would not work. Since the radio will not work if stolen, the incentive to steal radios is reduced.
However, thieves steal other parts of vehicles besides the radio. One of the parts being increasingly stolen is the vehicle's air bag. Air bags are stolen and are resold to repair shops. The repair shops install the air bags into vehicles owned by other people. As a result, the operation of the air bag cannot be disabled when the air bag is stolen. If the air bag were to become disabled when removed, an unknowing person can be unnecessarily killed in an accident.
For this reason, different theft deterrent approaches have been developed for protecting the air bag. A common approach for protecting air bags from theft is to encase the air bag in a protective shield when the vehicle is not in use. This approach is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,560 to LiCausi, entitled Air Bag Anti-Theft Device and U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,067 to Kim, entitled Anti-Theft Device For Automobiles And Air Bags. The problem associated with such prior art devices is that it requires the driver of the vehicle to install a bulky shield over the air bag each time he/she leaves the vehicle. The driver must also remove the bulky shield each time he/she enters the vehicle. As such, installing such theft prevention shields is a cumbersome, time consuming activity for the vehicle driver. As a result, the driver will inevitably not apply the shield if he/she is leaving the vehicle for only a short time. This leaves the vehicle and its air bag vulnerable to theft.
A need therefore exists for an air bag theft deterrent system that passively protects the air bag, deters theft and does not disable the air bag if it is stolen. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.